Garadi

The Garadi dance of Pondicherry traces its origin to the ancient days of Ramayana, when the Vanara army performed this dance to celebrate the victory of Rama over Ravana. It is mainly performed at the time of the car festival of Lord Vishnu. The dance continues for five to eight hours every night. The distinctive feature of this dance is the iron rings, called anjali, which the dancers wear, ten on each leg. As the dancers execute intricate movements, the rings produce sweet sonorous sound. The dancers carry flags in their hands. They dance to the beats of two huge drums called Romadolu. The drum is hemispherical with a diameter of about eight feet.